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Cline vs Kiro

Features, pricing, ratings, and pros and cons, side by side.

Verdict

Cline and Kiro are both Coding AI tools. Cline scores higher in FinderAtlas's editorial review (8.2 vs 8.0 out of 10), led by feature depth and value for money. Both have a free plan or trial. Only Cline is available on VS Code Extension and JetBrains Plugin and offers an API. Only Kiro is available on Web.

Best overall

Cline

  • Software Engineers
  • Full-Stack Developers
  • Engineering Teams
  • Enterprise Development Organizations

Choose Cline if

  • You want a tool built for developers who want an open-source agent with a choice of model providers, human approval at each step, and extensibility through MCP servers.
  • Open source under Apache 2.0, with a large public community of 250+ contributors.
  • No subscription needed: pay only for inference, or bring your own API key.

Choose Kiro if

  • You want a tool built for turning feature ideas into structured specs and tasks before agents write code in large codebases.
  • Spec-driven workflow produces requirements, design and task lists before code is written.
  • Based on Code OSS, so VS Code settings, themes and Open VSX extensions carry over.
Best for beginners
Cline
Best for business
Cline

Features

19 features compared.

  • Plan and Act Modes
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Multi-File Editing with Checkpoints
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Terminal and Browser Use
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Bring Your Own Model
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • MCP Servers and Marketplace
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Rules Files
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Multi-Agent Teams and Scheduling
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Headless and Chat Access
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • SDK
    Cline
    Available
    Kiro
    Not available
  • Spec-driven development
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Agent hooks
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Steering files
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Memory
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Correctness checking
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Model choice
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Kiro CLI
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Kiro Web
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Local command sandbox
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available
  • Open standards and MCP
    Cline
    Not available
    Kiro
    Available

Pricing

Plans as listed by each vendor. Check their sites for current prices.

  • Pricing model
    Cline
    Freemium
    Kiro
    Freemium
  • Free plan
    Cline
    Yes
    Kiro
    Yes
  • Starting price
    Cline
    $0
    Kiro
    $0
  • Plans
    Cline
    3 plans
    Kiro
    5 plans

Cline plans

  • Open Source

    Most popular

    $0

    Free for individual developers; pay only for model inference

    • VS Code extension
    • CLI
    • MCP Marketplace
    • multi-root workspaces
    • bring your own key
    • community support

  • ClinePass

    $9.99/month

    Optional flat subscription for open coding models via the Cline provider

    • Curated open coding models
    • 2-5x usage versus standard API rates
    • 5-hour
    • weekly and monthly limits

  • Enterprise

    Custom/custom

    Organizations needing security and administration controls

    • JetBrains extension
    • SSO
    • SLA
    • dedicated support
    • centralized billing
    • role-based access control
    • authentication logs

Kiro plans

  • Free

    $0

    Entry tier to try Kiro

    • 50 credits
    • Open-weight models
    • Claude Sonnet 4.5 with rate limits

  • Pro

    $20/user/mo

    Individual paid plan

    • 1,000 credits
    • Premium models
    • Kiro Web
    • Add-on credits at $0.04

  • Pro+

    $40/user/mo

    More credits for heavier use

    • 2,000 credits
    • Premium models
    • Kiro Web
    • Add-on credits at $0.04

  • Pro Max

    $100/user/mo

    High-volume individual use

    • 5,000 credits
    • Premium models
    • Kiro Web
    • Add-on credits at $0.04

  • Power

    $200/user/mo

    Highest credit allowance

    • 10,000 credits
    • Premium models
    • Kiro Web
    • Add-on credits at $0.04

Our ratings

Scored out of 10 by the Finder Atlas editorial team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Cline
8.2overall
Kiro
8.0overall

Cline leads in 2 categories and Kiro in 1, with 2 tied.

  • Ease of Use

    Kiro leads by 0.2
    Cline
    7.8
    Kiro
    8.0

  • Feature Depth

    Cline leads by 0.3
    Cline
    8.8
    Kiro
    8.5

  • Value for Money

    Cline leads by 1.1
    Cline
    8.6
    Kiro
    7.5

  • Performance & Speed

    Tied
    Cline
    8.0
    Kiro
    8.0

  • Documentation & Support

    Tied
    Cline
    8.0
    Kiro
    8.0

Scores weigh documented features, plan value, platform coverage, integrations and user feedback. A missing score means we have not rated that area yet.

Pros and cons

Cline

Pros

  • Open source under Apache 2.0, with a large public community of 250+ contributors.
  • No subscription needed: pay only for inference, or bring your own API key.
  • Works with many model providers, including local models through Ollama and LM Studio.
  • Approval at every step, plus checkpoints and undo, keeps changes reviewable.
  • Available in VS Code, a desktop app, CLI, SDK and CI, so it fits several workflows.

Cons

  • Costs depend on token usage and are not capped on the free plan, so heavy agentic sessions can be hard to predict.
  • JetBrains support is listed as early access and as an Enterprise feature.
  • Documentation does not state specific ClinePass token or request allowances.

Kiro

Pros

  • Spec-driven workflow produces requirements, design and task lists before code is written.
  • Based on Code OSS, so VS Code settings, themes and Open VSX extensions carry over.
  • Same credit pool works across IDE, CLI and Web with no separate cloud compute charge.
  • Multiple model families, including open-weight options, with an Auto mode.
  • Free tier with 50 credits and downloadable apps on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Cons

  • Credits can run out quickly on complex spec tasks; costs vary by model and monthly credits do not roll over.
  • Free tier excludes premium models and is limited to open-weight models and Claude Sonnet 4.5 under rate limits.
  • Mobile app is iOS-only, in preview, and needs iOS 26 or later.
  • Cloud sessions are only available in US East (N. Virginia), and Enterprise pricing is not published.

Platforms

  • Web
    Cline
    Not supported
    Kiro
    Supported
  • Windows
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Supported
  • macOS
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Supported
  • iOS
    Cline
    Not supported
    Kiro
    Not supported
  • Android
    Cline
    Not supported
    Kiro
    Not supported
  • API
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Not supported
  • Browser Extension
    Cline
    Not supported
    Kiro
    Not supported
  • Linux
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Supported
  • VS Code Extension
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Not supported
  • JetBrains Plugin
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Not supported
  • CLI
    Cline
    Supported
    Kiro
    Supported

Integrations

Cline

17 integrations
  • VS Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • Slack
  • Discord
  • Telegram
  • Linear
  • GitHub Actions
  • GitLab
  • Ollama
  • LM Studio
  • OpenRouter
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Anthropic
  • OpenAI
  • Google Gemini

Kiro

12 integrations
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Figma
  • Postman
  • Datadog
  • Miro
  • Stripe
  • Supabase
  • ElevenLabs
  • Firebase
  • Terraform
  • MCP

Company

  • Company
    Cline
    Cline Bot Inc.
    Kiro
    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Founded
    Cline
    2024
    Kiro
    2006
  • Headquarters
    Cline
    Not listed
    Kiro
    Seattle, Washington, USA
  • Listing
    Cline
    Claimed
    Kiro
    Claimed

Frequently asked questions

Is Cline better than Kiro?

It depends on your workflow. Cline is built for developers who want an open-source agent with a choice of model providers, human approval at each step, and extensibility through MCP servers. Kiro is built for turning feature ideas into structured specs and tasks before agents write code in large codebases.

What are the key feature differences between Cline and Kiro?

Cline: Open-source autonomous coding agent for your editor, terminal, and CI pipelines. Kiro: Spec-driven agentic IDE from AWS that turns prompts into designs, tasks and code.

Does Cline or Kiro have a free plan?

Yes, both do. Cline is freemium and Kiro is freemium, and each has a free plan or trial.

Which is cheaper, Cline or Kiro?

Both can be used for free. Paid plans differ in limits and features, so compare the tiers in the pricing table above.